Flippable electrical connector

Abstract

A receptacle connector includes an insulative housing defining a base and a mating tongue extending from the base, the mating tongue defining a thicken step structure around a root thereof adjacent to the base; two rows of contacts disposed in the insulating housing with contacting sections exposed upon the mating tongue and mount tails out of the base; and a shielding plate embedded within the insulative housing and disposed between the two rows of contacts. The shielding plate defines a pair of locking sides for locking with an internal latch of a corresponding plug and the locking sides protruding beyond corresponding lateral sides of the mating tongue. The insulative housing and the shielding plate are integrally formed via an insert molding process while at least one row of the contacts are configured to be forwardly assembled to corresponding passageways in the insulating housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A receptacle connector for mounting to a printed circuit board, comprising:
 an insulative housing defining a base with a mating tongue extending therefrom, the mating tongue defining a thicken step portion around a root thereof adjacent to the base; 
 a metallic shield retained around the base and surrounding the mating tongue so as to define a mating cavity between the metallic shied and the mating tongue, the metallic shield including a first wall, a second wall opposite to the first wall and two opposite end walls integrally connecting with the first and second walls; 
 two rows of contacts disposed in the insulating housing with contacting sections exposed upon the mating tongue and mounting tails out of the base, the mating cavity and the contacts being arranged in a diagonally symmetrical arrangement; 
 a pair of metallic locking notches protruding beyond corresponding lateral sides of the mating tongue for locking with a pair of internal latch of a plug connector; 
 a metallic bracket attached to a front portion of the first wall of the metallic shield and having mounting pads; 
 wherein the first wall of the metallic shield defines a pair of spring tangs split therefrom and extending rearwards into the mating cavity, the second wall defines a pair of dimples protruding inwards the mating cavity without any openings for holding the plug connector, the metallic bracket covers spring tangs and seals any opens defined on the first wall for keeping integrity therewith under EMI consideration; 
 the receptacle connector further comprising a metallic plate embedded in the insulating housing, wherein the metallic locking notches is defines on the metallic plate, the metallic plate comprises a front horizontal portion in the mating tongue and the base and a rear vertical portion extending out of the base and between two rows of the mounting tails of the contacts; 
 wherein the metallic plate further comprising a pair contacting regions formed of plates unitarily folded respectively from two opposite lateral ends of the shielding plate and exposed upon the step portion; and 
 wherein each of the pair of the contacting regions is equipped with a lance at a tip to be secured to the shielding plate. 
 
     
     
       2. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the end walls defines spring tangs split therefrom and extend rearwards into the mating cavity, and the metallic bracket includes a pair of endwalls covering the spring tangs and sealing corresponding opens on the endwalls. 
     
     
       3. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the metallic bracket defines mounting tails extending from the endwalls thereof for mounting to the printed circuit board. 
     
     
       4. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the metallic shield defines mounting tails extending from rear sides of the end walls thereof. 
     
     
       5. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the metallic shield further includes a rear wall with two ears latched to two opposite end walls of the shield. 
     
     
       6. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the rear wall of the metallic shield further defines mounting tails. 
     
     
       7. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a front edge of the metallic shield is equipped with a plurality of flared flanges for easy insertion of the plug connector. 
     
     
       8. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a front edge of the metallic shield is equipped with a plurality of flared flanges for easy insertion of the plug connector. 
     
     
       9. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the shielding plate comprises a first shielding plate located between the mating tongue and the base and a second shielding portion bending from the first shielding portion and located between the tails of the two row of the contacts. 
     
     
       10. The receptacle connector as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the shielding plate further defines a spring arms laterally and horizontally going through two lateral sides of the base.